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baby

It’s been a couple of weeks now that my daughter does not want to pray with us. As our bedtime routine apart from the bedtime stories, Angel of God is a big part of it and now every time we start doing the sign of the cross, a prelude to the actual prayer, she starts screaming. To make her interested again I am making this Do-It-Yourself prayer booklet.

I am using MS Word for the lay out as I am much more adept in it than, say Publisher and the angel images that I used are all from the internet, so credit goes to whomever drew these wonderful angel colouring images.

I have been at it since this morning and so far I have 75% success rate.

75% Success

Above is a screen capture using MS Word Snipping Tool. I used a 2 column lay out and plan on just cutting it half and using a yarn to sew the edge and make a little book. I thought that yarn is colourful and will make it more attractive to my 2 year old but I remembered how much fun she had untangling the balloon string from where we tied it, so change of plans. Now I have to redo the lay out and make it so in a way that I will just fold it to form the little booklet. So here’s to another hour of lay outing. Skills are a bit rusty so it is taking a long time. Whew~

The above image is what I ended up printing. Considering the fact that my 2 year old won’t really have any idea on the aesthetic, let alone that 2 column lay out that I made, I opt for this one- whole page print out. Bigger pictures, more space to colour, much more fun.

Do you know what is baby olympics? Do you have any idea how some parent would feel after that unsolicited “my baby can stand on her own at 7months, how about yours?” Statement.

Oftentimes we get so wrapped up with our little one’s accomplishments that we just blabber away to anyone who is willing and the not so willing to listen disregarding the fact that you are borderline to being offensive. We forgot that they are parents as well and that their child or children is of the same age as yours.

Welcome to baby olympics.

In my case, after a bout of baby olympics with some parent I get so paranoid that my child is not hitting her milestones that I get to a frenzy which I termed as “google crazed.” Reading up on volumes upon volumes of search results most often than not left me more worried and paranoid, than I first started.

To save my sanity, I don’t talk about her milestones or accomplishments instead I regale friends with her individuality, of how she takes care of her sibling.

For us her parents, she takes the top honor in every category and milestone that has ever existed.

P.S.

She’s 23 months. Recognize her letters and their ascendancy, knows the different colors and shapes . She can count from 1 to 10 as well.

Nowadays, production of any baby related product is one big, profit generating commercial venture. But I will primarily talk about different baby products not necessarily organic based which was brought to my attention by my friend.

She has commented that my children does not smell as good as any other babies. And so the mother in me reacted, as much the same way as a Mommy Tiger defending her cubs. So the conversation goes like this.

Friend: Your baby girl does not smell like a baby at all.

Me: Really? So what does she smells like?

Friend: Uhm, nothing. No smell at all.

Me: You mean to say she smells like sweat?

Friend: Kinda.

Me: Oh that’s okay. I much prefer it that way than any other smell.

Friend: Why don’t you put baby powder on her or baby lotion?

Me: Seriously you have to ask this?

Friend: Yeah. She’d have that cute smell, blah blah blah.

And her explanation goes on and on. On my part, I gather all my patience and explained to her why and I said:

Indeed my baby will smell good but have you taken into account what goes on in there to make it smell that good? You take a second and read what’s in the back label of any baby product and you’ll see in tiny print “perfume/parfum”, so why will I make my child use perfume when I, myself do not use one. It is a generic name and nobody will know what was in it aside from the perfume, there are other ingredients that have very complicated names so I guess they are compounds. Compounds from what? The only compound I trust is water (H2O) and salt (NaCl).

I’d rather have my babies smelling less appealing than putting things on their skin that I know nothing about. And also it is my duty as their mother, to limit their exposure to harmful chemicals while they’re still under my watchful eye, for when they get older and start practising their independence, then at that time they can use anything they perceived to be right for them.

I have defended my stand much more than I liked to but you can never convince them otherwise, if the product has been used for generations and no harm has been reported. But as far as I am concerned, any unpronounceable ingredient is a big no-no.

In case you have no idea what is “Terrible Two’s”, it is the stage where your child starts to develop his/her brain, tests her independence but most especially it is the stage where children would start questioning mama/papa’s rules.

Their favourite word is NO. No. No. No.

To count the No’s I hear during the day would be tantamount to counting the commercials in my favourite TV show. It is that bad.

Top this situation with a baby brother, you have a pending world war 3, every single day in your living room. A battle of wills and usually she wins because mama just can’t stand the whining.

The situation was amusing at first, when she started showing her independence. For a first time parent to a toddler, communicating in her limited vocabulary is a lesson like no other. We learned to understand her okay’s, her cici’s and her neighhehey. Completing a task with her is a source of a big celebration of high-fives. Playtime has become a one big story time, with colors, letters, numbers and shapes. We were ecstatic.

And then she discovered NO, and what it means.

Nowadays, everything is a no. From breakfast cereals to nap time. From lunch to bed time. The only bright thing to look forward too is the bedtime routine that we have. The prayers and the songs that I will sing to them. Every time I sing, she moves beside me on our bed and just want to be cuddled. Singing calms her but not only her, it calms me too.

For now, the “Terrible Two’s” is just starting and it is not that crazy yet. There are some days that we get a respite from all of the NO’s and she acts as my docile baby whom you just want to cuddle.

I know we still have a long way to go. This is just a start of many.

But I am praying that no matter how terrible she will be in her aim for independence from now, ’til she’s older, she will not feel anything other than our love for her and how precious she is to us.

I have been sleeping on and off. And now, its past 2:00am and I am very much awake.

Night terrors!

I will no longer know if it is insomnia thats ruining my sleep because apparently there is a new term for it “night terrors”. And I am not a happy camper.

She wakes up everybody. It played havoc on her sleep pattern and it is making us all grumpy and cranky.

On top of this new toddler development, she now has an idea of mine and no. Mama is mine. Toys is mine. Pacifier is mine. Everything except papa is mine. Food is no. Water is no. Any question is answered by a no and when you give her that exasperated look she’ll ask you what’s wrong. 😦

Back when she started solid fouod, we were so proud of ourselves and of her. I would puree anything and she’ll ate it. Baby cereal, meat, fish, brocolli is a hit. We were into organic food and no salt. Feeding her is an event that I woudn’t miss for the world. It is a joy watching her scrunched her face if she think that you are to slow with the spoon. We were happy.

And she turned 1 year old. Even before she turned one, there were signs but I just took it for granted.

Since I have started giving her “real” food in its “real” form, the trouble begun. Everything you put in her plate goes to the floor. Note that she stopped eating baby cereal round 11 months.

Brocolli, floor. Rice, floor. Tiny slice of meats, floor. The only thing that didn’t end up on the floor is banana.

So I went back to pureeing her food. Worked for a while. At this time I started giving her pasta.

Lo and behold the pasta is the 8th wonder of the world. She loved it.

I have cooked almost all of the pasta recipes out there that is appropriate for her but still she wont get tired eating it.

I liked giving her my version of macaroni and cheese with salmon flakes and broccoli on the side. It is creamy and cheesy plus all the food group is present.

The day started just fine with everybody waking up in a good mood and rarin to start the week right. A cup of coffee and a bagel later, the chaos started. Big sister decided to not eat breakfast, which is just a slice of cheese to begin with, and proceeded to start whining for TV. Papa gave her a banana and bless her heart ate it and after 2 bites gave it to me to finish. And the whining started again, this time for the keys, TV forgotten. Keys in hand and change of nappies and clothes, intermittent crying(dropped keys), shoes and her world is a better place again.

Disaster averted.

And our little family is finally out and on our way to the paediatricians.

After a 15 minute bus ride and on time for our appointment for once, waited for our turn.

Two patients and 20minutes later my baby boy is dressed down, lying on examination table, crying his lungs out as he hates the cold and being poked and touched, poor thing.

Don’t you just love it when you get on the bus and everybody is solicitous and make your life and theirs easier by moving back, tucking feet underneath the seats and or just basically clearing a way for you and your stroller to pass through – uhm THIS IS NOT THAT DAY!

The exact opposite happened and I am so near at telling the lady to just moved it but a good sane person I am (it might be the bagel!) Kept quite and waited it out. And poor bus driver announced on PA to please moved back and to allow people to pass, I can almost smell the bus driver, that’s how close i am to the door. Freeze frame, NOBODY moved. And lady mumbled “i’m off in the next stop” and there’s queue of 5 people plus a double stroller, aaahhh *smh*. By the way, that next stop she’s saying is our stop as well. I can only imagibe the collective sigh of relief when we got off. LOL.

An everyday check list for me who relies heavily on smartphone from doctors appointments to grocery lists.

Still trying to get a hang of things, but getting there everyday.

First off, we are a family of 4. Me, my husband and our babies, a toddler girl and a baby boy.

I used to be this happy go lucky single person who with a stroke of luck hooked up with the most amazing man and so far has produced 2 adorable human beings, that gives us joy every single second of their existence.

Being a mom to this 2 is not all rosy as all mom would tell you. It has its challenges and it takes a lot of patience to get through each day. There are off days as can be expected but no matter how crazy a day is, a tiny squeak “mama” is more than enough to lift your spirits up.

The way I see it now, its the bestest 3 years of my life and counting. A heck of a ride and worth all the sleepless nights and crazy days anybody can conceive.